THE WND STORY THAT STARTED IT ALL

The big list: Female teachers with students

Most comprehensive account on Internet of women predators on campus

Published: 08/19/2014 at 1:00 PM. Updated: 07/22/2015 at 10:06 PM

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Deanna Bobo

Deanna Bobo, 37: Special-education teacher at Raymond E. Wells Junior High School in Greenwood, Ark., allegedly had sex twice in 2005 with a 14-year-old boy in his own bed while his parents were not home. She denied the charge, but was convicted in September 2006 of two counts of first-degree sexual assault and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Deborah Reeder

Deborah Reeder, 45: Substitute teacher from Coral Springs, Fla., arrested in December 2006, charged with having sex at least four times with a 17-year-old boy who was a friend of one of her own three children. The victim told police they had sex multiple times in her car, her bed, on the floor of her bedroom and in the master bedroom shower.

Debra LaFave

Debra LaFave, 25: Tampa, Fla., area teacher received no jail time despite having sex with her 14-year-old male student in a classroom and her Hillsborough County home. In another county, Marion, she was accused of having sex with the boy in an SUV. LaFave claimed at a March 2006 news conference she had a bipolar disorder. The boy’s father said LaFave should have received prison time in her plea deal, noting, “It’s a horrible, ugly thing that she’s done.”

Denise Keesee

Denise Keesee, 38: Teacher at Sherwood High School in Sherwood, Ore., turned herself in to the Washington County Sheriff’s office June 17, 2013, facing sexual abuse charges, stemming from accusations of sexual contact with at least three students. A grand jury indicted her on six counts of second-degree sexual abuse. According to the Oregonian, Keesee was under investigation for sexual contact with one male student in November 2012. Investigators believed in June 2013 there were at least three male victims in incidents spanning her entire time at Sherwood High. “We believe there is a possibility there are more out there,” said Det. Robert Rookhuyzen. “Male victims are a very difficult population to work with, primarily because they may not feel they’ve been victimized. There’s reluctance to report, and there’s stigma.” On April 21, 2014, Judge Kirsten Thompson sentenced Keesee to 30 days in custody for the sexual abuse of a 16-year-old student, along with five years of probation. Keesee also must register as a sex offender, surrender her teaching license, complete sex-offender treatment and have no contact with teens unless approved by her probation officer. “I’m doing everything I can to rectify my wrong,” she told the court. “I am motivated to continue to change.”

Diana Canter

Diana Canter, 34: Former Christiansburg High School teacher in Virginia was charged July 20, 2010 with having sex with one of her students – a 17-year-old male – during the 2008-09 school year. On the website ratemyteacher.com, someone described Canter on July 2 as “The next teacher you’ll see on the news. Wants the cute guys to drool and the lonely girls to be in her click [sic].” Canter was charged with eight counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor. She pleaded no contest and was found guilty of all eight counts and sentenced in March 2011 to 48 months in jail. The judge suspended the entire sentence and ordered Canter to spend 24 months on probation with 12 months supervised, perform 200 hours of community service and have no contact with the victim or his family. He also fined her $2,000. The student said he had attempted suicide when their relationship ended.

Donna Washburne

Donna Washburne, 47: Librarian assistant at Cheyenne High School, Las Vegas, Nev., was arrested July 26, 2009, on a charge of sexual misconduct with a student. She allegedly performed oral sex on a 17-year-old boy in the back seat of her car while in the school parking lot, according to the arresting school police officer who said he observed the incident. The police report said the boy told police Washburne had called him earlier in the day and asked if he wanted to hang out. Washburne told officers she thought the boy was 18-years-old.

Dorothy Dixon

Dorothy Dixon, 29: Special-needs teacher at Northgate High School in Fayetteville, Ga., was charged May 27, 2011, with child molestation involving a 15-year-old former student. Dixon was arrested after her husband found sexting messages on his wife’s phone, confronted her and reported her explanation to authorities. The Coweta County Sheriff’s Office said investigators were alerted to what is said to have been a sexual relationship between Dixon and one of her ex-students, a special-needs student. When Dixon’s husband originally saw the sexual text messages, he presumed the communications were with an adult male. But what Dixon told him when he confronted her, was that she had been having relations with a teen boy whom she had previously taught in a special-needs class at Northgate.

Elisa Martinelli

Elisa Martinelli, 34: Pastor’s daughter and former teacher at at Dayspring Christian Academy in Chicago was in custody in June 2011, accused of having sex with four students over the course of years dating back to the late 1990s. Prosecutors claim the woman plied the three girls and a boy with alcohol and performed sex acts on them in her home, in the students’ homes or sometimes in her car, including having intercourse with the boy for about a year while he was 15 and 16. According to published reports, what began as telling sexy stories with one girl is said to have escalated into full abuse of the victim, lasting until 2001. She then allegedly had sexual relations with two other teen girls and a boy.

Elisha Kingsley

Elisha Kinglsey, 39: Substitute teacher at the private Canterbury School of Florida in St. Petersburg was arrested Aug. 18, 2014, on a charge she had sexual relations with a 16-year-old male student. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office began its investigation July 22. “She met him toward the end of the school year, and during the summer they started texting back and forth on a phone app. On or about July 5th, they met and had sexual relations at an area that we are not disclosing at this time,” said sheriff’s office spokesperson Cristen Rensel. Mac Hall, head of Canterbury School, released this statement: “This situation is deeply sad for us, because our students and their safety is our primary concern. We are aware of the arrest of a former employee. The teacher resigned before this information became available to us, however once we were made aware of the information we immediately reported the matter to DCF as required by law.”

Elizabeth Livesay

Elizabeth Livesay, 26: Special-education teacher at Carson Junior High School in Mesa, Ariz., was arrested Nov. 17, 2008, on 11 charges she had sex with a 16-year-old girl on numerous occasions outside of school grounds. The 16-year-old is not her student and police believe that the girl has not been Livesay’s student in the past. She was put on paid leave of absence during the investigation.

Elizabeth Miklosovic

Elizabeth Miklosovic, 36: Grand Rapids, Mich., teacher at South Haven’s Baseline Middle School pleaded no contest to sexually assaulting a 14-year-old female student she “married” in a pagan ritual in June 2004. Miklosovic is also accused of touching the girl’s genitals while camping in public parks. She told the judge before sentencing, “The entire ordeal has been blown totally out of proportion for something that was innocent, kind and nurturing in nature.” She was sentenced to five to 25 years.

Elizabeth Munn

Elizabeth Munn, 32: Gloversville, N.Y., teacher was arrested for statuatory rape of an eighth-grade male student half her age after someone alerted police with a complaint. The social studies teacher, who had worked in the Broadalbin-Perth School District for more than five years, was considered a competent teacher and the news of her arrest was called a surprise by a district official. According to the Fulton County D.A., Munn admitted to being involved with the 15-year-old student over the summer but wouldn’t give any details.

Elizabeth Stow

Elizabeth Stow, 26: Tulare Western High School teacher from Fresno, Calif., area convicted of having sex with three of her students was sentenced in November 2005 to nine years prison, but the judge suspended that sentence and gave her one year, followed by five years of probation. She was also ordered to register as a sex offender.

Ellen Garfield, 43: Former student at Solomon Schecter School in Newton, Mass., said his music teacher took him into an empty classroom where she worked, partially disrobed, and coaxed him into having sex with her in 1998. Garfield was acquitted of all charges in September 2005.

Ellen Niemiec

Ellen Lindsay Niemiec, 29: Teacher at Cross High School in Berekely County, S.C., turned herself into authorities in May 2014 for allegedly having sex with three of her own students. Niemiec is accused of having sex with the teen boys at a house party on April 11. She faces two felony charges of sexual battery, since two of the victims were 17, while the third was 18, resulting in a misdemeanor charge. “It started with dirty talk, then they were texting. She was texting nude pictures and that kind of stuff. Then just from there, it just went on,” Mike Bosnak, an attorney representing all three students, told WCIV-TV. “Some of it took place at the school. She also was picking one of them up in the morning and had sex with him in the morning and then in the afternoon.” “She feels for the Cross community that this situation has occurred,” said her attorney, David Aylor. “She is saddened for anybody affected including her own family and any alleged victims.” Berkeley County Magistrate James Polk set bail for Niemiec at $21,092. He also ordered her to stay out of Cross High and have no contact with any of the school’s students.

Emily Elizabeth Housley

Emily Elizabeth Housley, 29: Former math teacher at North Side High School in Fort Worth, Texas, was arrested at her mother’s home on July 10, 2009, for sexual assault on a child. The married mother of two had resigned earlier after being caught with a 16-year-old male student in a park late at night. According to police, the woman and her student had started flirting and exchanging text messages earlier in the year when he was still 15. The pair became sexually active after he turned 16, with encounters in her classroom after school hours, in her car, at her mother’s home, and at her home when her husband and children were away. After school let out for the summer, Housley met the teen at his Fort Worth house while he was alone. “She was going to a teacher conference that was near his house, and she was going over there on her lunch breaks and having sex with him,” a detective said.

Emily Morris

Emily Morris, 26: Teacher at Leeds High School in St. Clair County, Ala., faced a possible 20-year sentence, but received one year in jail in December 2006 for having consensual sex with a 15-year-old student at her school. District Attorney Lamar Williamson said Morris had sex with the boy in her car away from school property in February 2005. “She was in a position of trust and authority as a school teacher,” he said. Under a plea bargain, according to the Associated Press, prosecutors dropped a second charge of second-degree rape and a charge of second-degree sodomy. Morris’ attorney, William Dawson, said she agreed to the plea bargain in part because of the possibility of a longer sentence. On June 21, 2010, WND broke the story that Morris was honored as “Person of the Month” by the city of Pelham, Ala.

Erica Baker, 23: Teacher at Pfeiffer-Burleigh Elementary School in Erie County, Pa., charged Nov. 13, 2007, in connection with a lesbian relationship with a local teenage girl. Baker was just a student teacher in training at Strong Vincent High School when she originally met the female student. Police say the pair would drive to a parking lot at a campground to engage in sexual contact.

Erica Rutters, 29: Teacher at Oxford Christian Academy in New Oxford, Pa., allegedly wrote erotic messages to a 16-year-old student and had sexual intercourse with him four times in her apartment. She pleaded guilty to corruption of a minor, and received no jail time, just three years of probation in March 2006.

Erica Umosella, 28: This southern New Jersey high school physical education teacher was charged with three sex-related offenses, including first-degree aggravated sexual assault, in May 2007 after an alleged three-month relationship with a 17-year-old member of the girl’s field hockey team came to light in an anonymous letter to the principal. Umosella, who has been teaching at the school since 2003, was released from police custody after paying $50,000 in bail.

Erin McLean

Erin McLean, 30: Student teacher at West High School in Knoxville, Tenn., who became sexually involved with student Sean Powell in 2005. On March 10, 2006, police say McLean’s husband, using a shotgun, killed the 18-year-old boy as he sat in his car outside the McLean’s home. Eric McLean was charged in the boy’s death and is out on bail. Temporary custody of the couple’s children was awarded to the wife. Erin McLean subsequently was hired, under her maiden name, at a Christian school, but was dismissed after a parent complained of her attentions toward a 17-year-old boy. She disappeared in Sept. 2007 from Knoxville with her children, telling an uncle she was going to Califoria to meet someone she met on the Internet.

Erin Queen

Erin Kathleen Queen, 27: English teacher at Charles Page High School in Tulsa, Okla., was arrested March 17, 2012, after she was found at the Candlewood Suites hotel in Tulsa with the 17-year-old son of Shasta and Adam Belty. Although Queen was originally charged with second-degree rape and contributing to the delinquency of a minor for supplying the boy with vodka, the case was dismissed March 21, 2012, when Queen pleaded guilty to a different felony count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She received no jail time, but got three years of probation, was fined $600 and was ordered to surrender her teacher’s license. “It’s very frustrating to us that she basically got a slap on the wrist,” said the boy’s mother, Shasta Belty. “I cussed. I cried. I totally disagreed with it. (Assistant District Attorney Amanda Self) was under the impression that we were OK with a conviction as long as (Queen) never taught again. Well, we were OK with a conviction of the second-degree rape … or something that represents the sexual misconduct.”

Ethel Anderson

Ethel Anderson, 29: The Mango Elementary School fifth-grade teacher was arrested in Hillsborough County, Fla., on Feb. 29, 2012, and charged with three counts of lewd or lascivious battery and two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of a 12-year-old boy she tutored on weekends in her home. While most female teachers who have initiated sexual relationships with students have received relatively light sentences, Anderson had the book thrown at here. On Dec. 10, 2013 — calling her “a parent’s worst nightmare” — Judge Chet Tharpe sentenced the mother of one child to 38 years in prison.

Franca and Antonia Munoz-Juvera

Franca and Antonia Munoz-Juvera, 26: These twin sisters – both teachers – were arrested in Southern California in December 2006 in connection with alleged lewd acts with an underage female student. Only Franca was charged with “unlawful contact” – Antonia was charged with being aware of the incident and failing to report it as required under California law. An 18-year-old female roommate was also arrested because she “facilitated the crime.” On June 6, 2008, Franca was sentenced to 240 days in jail. Antonia and the roomate were sentenced to 120 days in jail to be served on weekends.

Gail E. Gagne

Gail E. Gagne, 25: Former weight-room supervisor and teacher at Cretin-Derham Hall, a Catholic school in St. Paul, Minn., allegedly conducted a sexual relationship with a male high-school football star, who worked under her supervision in the weight room. According to the complaint filed the first week of December 2009, the pair had sex in her home and overnight in a hotel in September 2008. On March 28, 2011, Gagne received a stayed jail sentence of one year and a $300 fine as part of a plea agreement. “The family is left holding the dirty laundry of the defendant’s unprofessional and self-serving actions,” the mother of the male student was quoted as saying after the sentencing.

Gay Lyn Turley

Gay Lyn Turley, 42: Mesa High School teacher and softball coach in Scottsdale, Ariz., was arrested on Dec. 19, 2007, after a 20-year-old woman who had lived with her told police of their sexual relationship that began when she was 16 and a student at Mesa. The relationship had soured between the pair earlier in the year.

Georgianne Harrell, 24: Teacher at Holley Elementary School in Sylvester, Ga., charged with performing oral sex on a 9-year-old boy in April 2005, allowing students to gaze down her blouse and slashing her wrists with glass in front of her students. Though she originally pleaded not guilty, she changed her plea to guilty just before trial, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison for aggravated child molestation.